Board Membership

Robert J. Cochran, Ph.D., CPA

1st term, expires June 30, 2015

Dr. Cochran earned a BBA with a concentration in accounting from the College of William and Mary in 1979. He began his career in the Washington, DC office of Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (KPMG). At PMM&Co. he served a variety of audit clients, primarily in the financial services industry.

In 1984 Dr. Cochran left PMM&Co. to pursue an opportunity with a start-up wholesale mortgage banking concern eventually becoming the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. As a result of a series of mergers and acquisitions, he also served as the President of a three office retail mortgage banks in the Washington metropolitan area and as the Senior Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer for Crestar Mortgage Corporation in Richmond, Virginia.

Dr. Cochran left Crestar Mortgage in 1997 to enroll in the doctorial program at Virginia Commonwealth University. Since earning his Ph.D. in 2001 he has taught a variety of accounting and finance courses, first at the University of Richmond and since 2003 at Longwood University.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Cochran has held several service positions at Longwood including faculty advisor for the Accounting Association and sponsor and coach for students participating in what was the annual Goodman & Co. Accounting Challenge. He also works closely with a variety of CPA firms interested in hiring Longwood accounting graduates. He was elected by the students in the College of Business and Economics as the outstanding professor of the year in 2010 and the outstanding advisor to a student organization in 2008 and 2005. Dr. Cochran also taught summer school at Longwood’s Chinese partner university in Ma’anshan, China in 2010.

Dr. Cochran is a member of the AICPA and the VSCPA. He has been a member of the VSCPA Ethics Committee since 2007. He was a member of the Bon Air Rotary Club 1995 – 2006 and is a Paul Harris Fellow.